1/2 cup plain yogurt

1/4 cup finely chopped cucumber

1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed

1/4 teaspoon dried mint, crushed

4 large pita bread rounds

4 lettuce leaves

6 ounces thinly sliced fully cooked deli chicken breast

1 small tomato, thinly sliced

1/3 cup crumbled reduced fat feta cheese

Directions

For dressing: In a small mixing bowl stir together yogurt, cucumber, dill weed, and mint. Set aside. For Sandwich: Place a pita bread round on a plate. Top with lettuce, chicken, tomato, and feta cheese. Spoon dressing on top. Roll up the pita bread. Secure with wooden toothpicks. Serve immediately.

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

1 stalk celery, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

4 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tablespoons chili powder

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 pinch black pepper

4 cups vegetable broth

4 (15 ounce) cans black beans

1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn

1 (14.5 ounce) can crushed tomatoes

Directions

Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Saute onion, celery, carrots and garlic for 5 minutes. Season with chili powder, cumin, and black pepper; cook for 1 minute. Stir in vegetable broth, 2 cans of beans, and corn. Bring to a boil.

Meanwhile, in a food processor or blender, process remaining 2 cans beans and tomatoes until smooth. Stir into boiling soup mixture, reduce heat to medium, and simmer for 15 minutes.

While you probably realize that excess fat is unhealthy, you should also know that where the fat is distributed is key to health. People who are fattest in the abdomen (the so called “apple shaped body”) have a greater risk of heart disease and diabetes than those with pear shapes (fattest in the hips, buttocks, and thighs).

You won’t be surprised to learn that the best way to lose abdominal fat is to eat right and exercise regularly. And there’s a growing body of evidence showing that the quickest way to burn off the fat from your belly is with a mix of weight-training and aerobic exercise.

One study tracked 30 obese women for six months. The women were assigned to either a control group, an aerobic exercise group, or a combined exercise group.The aerobic exercise group did a full hour of cardio exercise for six days a week. The combined exercise group did weight training on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and aerobic exercise on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.

At the end of the six month period, the women in the aerobic group had lost 23.1 cm of abdominal subcutaneous fat while the combined group lost 61.8 cm, nearly three times as much. The combined group also did better on the abdominal visceral fat measure with 93 cm lost compared to 82 for the aerobic only group. There was no change in the control group.

How do you lose belly fat starts with developing a combined exercise plan that is strenuous. 30 minutes a few times a week won’t cut it. You need a full body training program combining cardiovascular and resistance exercises. You don’t need to do hundreds of crunches, sit ups or any of the complicated routines being touted by the “six pack abs” hype machine. The key to losing belly fat is to burn more calories than you eat. These fancy exercises don’t burn the kind of calories you need in order to be really successful.

Getting killer abs has a lot less to do with training and everything to do with lowering your total body fat. The next step is to eat the right foods. There is a lot of conflicting information on nutrition. From the Adkins “eat no carbs” people to those who eschew all fats, there are radicals on every side.

How do you lose belly fat starts with taking in enough protein to maintain muscle mass. At least 20 to 30 percent of your diet should come from fats. Then, you balance your carbs around the other two factors depending on whether you want to lose weight or not. And if you are trying to lose belly fat, you do want to lose weight. You must take in fewer calories than you burn.

How do you lose belly fat? Basically, if you lose the excess fat in your system, your belly will go away too.

5 leaves red fire lettuce – torn into small pieces

1/4 cup hemp hearts

1 chopped avocado

1 chopped tomato

1/2 cup chopped cucumber

1/4 cup raisins

Juice of half a lemon

5 basil leaves chopped

5 cilantro leaves chopped

1 Tbsp Nutritional yeast

1/4 cup hemp seed oil 1 tsp sea salt

Directions

Mix everything together in a bowl and enjoy.

2 4-ounce 1/2-inch-thick steaks, such as rib-eye, trimmed of fat

1 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp kosher salt, divided

1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil

2 plum tomatoes, diced

2 tsp lime juice

1 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

Rub both sides of steak with chili powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt.

Heat oil in a medium pan over medium-high heat. Add steaks and cook, turning once cook until it reaches your desired level of doneness. Cover steaks with foil and let rest while you make the salsa.

Add tomatoes, lime juice and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt to the pan and cook, stirring often, until tomatoes soften, about 3 minutes.

Remove from heat, stir in cilantro and any accumulated juices from the steaks. Serve steaks topped with the salsa.

(Makes 2 Servings)